Composable information handling systems in an open network using access control managers

ABSTRACT

A method for managing composed information handling systems includes obtaining a composition request for a composed information handling system, making a first determination that a first information handling system is not capable of servicing the composition request local, and based on the first determination: allocating, an available resource on the first information handling system to the composed information handling system, sending a resource allocation request to a system control processor manager for access to an additional resource, obtain, in response to the allocation request, a notification for access to a second information handling system of the information handling systems that provides the available resource, setting up management services for available resource and the additional resource to obtain logical hardware resources, and presenting the logical hardware resources to at least one compute resource set as bare metal resources.

BACKGROUND

Computing devices may provide services. To provide the services, thecomputing devices may include hardware components and softwarecomponents. The services provided by the computing devices may belimited by these components.

SUMMARY

In general, in one aspect, the invention relates to a system thatincludes a first information handling system of the information handlingsystems that includes a system control processor and at least onecomputing resource set, wherein the system control processor isprogrammed to: obtain a composition request for a composed informationhandling system, make a first determination that the first informationhandling system is not capable of servicing the composition requestlocally, and based on the first determination: allocate, an availableresource on the first information handling system to the composedinformation handling system, sending a resource allocation request to asystem control processor manager for access to an additional resource,obtain, in response to the allocation request, a notification for accessto a second information handling system of the information handlingsystems that provides the available resource, setup management servicesfor available resource and the additional resource to obtain logicalhardware resources, and present the logical hardware resources to the atleast one compute resource set as bare metal resources.

In general, in one aspect, the invention relates to a method forproviding computer implemented services using information handlingsystems. The method includes obtaining, by a system control processor, acomposition request for a composed information handling system, making afirst determination that a first information handling system is notcapable of servicing the composition request local, and based on thefirst determination: allocating, an available resource on the firstinformation handling system to the composed information handling system,sending a resource allocation request to a system control processormanager for access to an additional resource, obtain, in response to theallocation request, a notification for access to a second informationhandling system of the information handling systems that provides theavailable resource, setting up management services for availableresource and the additional resource to obtain logical hardwareresources, and presenting the logical hardware resources to at least onecompute resource set as bare metal resources, wherein the firstinformation handling system comprises the system control processor andthe at least one compute resource set.

In general, in one aspect, the invention relates to a non-transitorycomputer readable medium that includes computer readable program code,which when executed by a computer processor enables the computerprocessor to perform a method for providing computer implementedservices using information handling systems. The method includesobtaining, by a system control processor, a composition request for acomposed information handling system, making a first determination thata first information handling system is not capable of servicing thecomposition request local, and based on the first determination:allocating, an available resource on the first information handlingsystem to the composed information handling system, sending a resourceallocation request to a system control processor manager for access toan additional resource, obtain, in response to the allocation request, anotification for access to a second information handling system of theinformation handling systems that provides the available resource,setting up management services for available resource and the additionalresource to obtain logical hardware resources, and presenting thelogical hardware resources to at least one compute resource set as baremetal resources, wherein the first information handling system comprisesthe system control processor and the at least one compute resource set.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Certain embodiments of the invention will be described with reference tothe accompanying drawings. However, the accompanying drawings illustrateonly certain aspects or implementations of the invention by way ofexample and are not meant to limit the scope of the claims.

FIG. 1.1 shows a diagram of a system in accordance with one or moreembodiments of the invention.

FIG. 1.2 shows a diagram of an information handling system in accordancewith one or more embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 2 shows a diagram of hardware resources in accordance with one ormore embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 3 shows a diagram of a system control processor in accordance withone or more embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 4 shows a diagram of a system control processor manager inaccordance with one or more embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 5.1 shows a flowchart of a method of obtaining resourceavailability and a network connectivity topology in accordance with oneor more embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 5.2 shows a flowchart of a method of generating a composedinformation handling system based on a composition request in accordancewith one or more embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 5.3 shows a flowchart of a method of initiating access between SCPsvia the SCP manager in accordance with one or more embodiments of theinvention.

FIG. 5.4 shows a flowchart of a method of initiating direct accessbetween SCPs in accordance with one or more embodiments of theinvention.

FIGS. 6.1-6.3 show diagrams of the operation of an example system overtime in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 7 shows a diagram of a computing device in accordance with one ormore embodiments of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Specific embodiments will now be described with reference to theaccompanying figures. In the following description, numerous details areset forth as examples of the invention. It will be understood by thoseskilled in the art that one or more embodiments of the present inventionmay be practiced without these specific details and that numerousvariations or modifications may be possible without departing from thescope of the invention. Certain details known to those of ordinary skillin the art are omitted to avoid obscuring the description.

In the following description of the figures, any component describedwith regard to a figure, in various embodiments of the invention, may beequivalent to one or more like-named components described with regard toany other figure. For brevity, descriptions of these components will notbe repeated with regard to each figure. Thus, each and every embodimentof the components of each figure is incorporated by reference andassumed to be optionally present within every other figure having one ormore like-named components. Additionally, in accordance with variousembodiments of the invention, any description of the components of afigure is to be interpreted as an optional embodiment, which may beimplemented in addition to, in conjunction with, or in place of theembodiments described with regard to a corresponding like-namedcomponent in any other figure.

Throughout this application, elements of figures may be labeled as A toN. As used herein, the aforementioned labeling means that the elementmay include any number of items and does not require that the elementinclude the same number of elements as any other item labeled as A to N.For example, a data structure may include a first element labeled as Aand a second element labeled as N. This labeling convention means thatthe data structure may include any number of the elements. A second datastructure, also labeled as A to N, may also include any number ofelements. The number of elements of the first data structure and thenumber of elements of the second data structure may be the same ordifferent.

In general, embodiments of the invention relate to systems, devices, andmethods for providing computer implemented services. To provide computerimplemented services, computing resources may need to be allocated forthe performance of the services. The services may include, for example,processing resources, memory resources, storage resources, computingresources, etc.

To allocate the computing resources, composed information handlingsystems may be instantiated. A composed information handling system maybe a device (the components of which may be distributed across one ormore information handling systems) that has exclusive use over aquantity of computing resources. Computing resources from multipleinformation handling systems may be allocated to a composed informationhandling system thereby enabling a composed information handling systemto utilize computing resources from any number of information handlingsystem for performance of corresponding computer implemented services.

To allocate computing resources, the system may include a system controlprocessor manager. The system control processor manager may obtaincomposition requests. The composition requests may indicate a desiredoutcome such as, for example, execution of one or more application,providing of one or more services, etc. The system control processormanager may translate the composition requests into correspondingquantities of computing resources necessary to be allocated to satisfythe intent of the composition requests.

Once the quantities of computing resources are obtained, the systemcontrol processor manager may allocate resources of the informationhandling system to meet the identified quantities of computing resourcesby instructing system control processors of the information handlingsystems to prepare and present hardware resource sets of the informationhandling system to compute resource sets of the information handlingsystems.

Additionally, embodiments of the invention enable the use of accesscontrol managers (e.g., firewalls) managed by either informationhandling systems and/or by the system control processor manager. Theaccess control manager of an information handling system may manage theaccess of other components (e.g., other information handling systems)connected to an open network. When a first information handling systemrequests to use additional resources to generate a composed informationhandling system, the system control manager determines which informationhandling systems both (i) provide the requested additional resources and(ii) have enough available networking capabilities to communicate withthe first information handling system, and initiates programming ofaccess control managers in the identified information handling systemsto enable communication to the first information handling system. Inthis manner, communication between components in an open network iscontrolled and monitored, thus preventing access by undesired componentsto information handling systems. Further, the allocation of theresources and/or additional resources takes into account networkingcapabilities, e.g., available bandwidth, and, as such, the allocationmay be performed in a manner that does impact (or impacts in a limitedmanner) previous resources and/or additional resources.

FIG. 1.1 shows a system in accordance with one or more embodiments ofthe invention. The system may include any number of information handlingsystems (60). The information handling systems (60) may provide computerimplemented services. The computer implemented services may include, forexample, database services, data storage services, electroniccommunications services, data protection services, and/or other types ofservices that may be implemented using information handling systems.

The information handling system of the system of FIG. 1.1 may operateindependently and/or cooperatively to provide the computer implementedservices. For example, a single information handling system (e.g., 62)may provide a computer implemented service on its own (i.e.,independently) while multiple other information handling systems (e.g.,62, 64) may provide a second computer implemented service cooperatively(e.g., each of the multiple other information handling systems mayprovide similar and or different services that form the cooperativelyprovided service).

To provide computer implemented services, the information handlingsystems (60) may utilize computing resources provided by hardwaredevices. The computing resources may include, for example, processingresources, storage resources, memory resources, graphics processingresources, communications resources, and/or other types of resourcesprovided by the hardware devices. Various hardware devices may providethese computing resources.

The type and quantity of computing resources required to providecomputer implemented services may vary depending on the type andquantity of computer implemented services to be provided. For example,some types of computer implemented services may be more computeintensive (e.g., modeling) while other computer implemented services maybe more storage intensive (e.g., database) thereby having differentcomputing resource requirements for these different services.Consequently, computing resources may be used inefficiently if thequantity of computing resources are over-allocated for the computerimplemented services. Similarly, the quality of the provided computerimplemented services may be poor or otherwise undesirable if computingresources are under-allocated for the computer implemented services.

In general, embodiments of the invention relate to systems, methods, anddevices for managing the hardware resources of the information handlingsystems (62) and/or other resources (e.g., external resources (30)) toprovide computer implemented services. The hardware resources of theinformation handling systems (62) may be managed by instantiating one ormore composed information handling systems using the hardware resourcesof the information handling systems (62), external resources (30),and/or other types of hardware devices operably connected to theinformation handling systems (62). Consequently, the computing resourcesallocated to a composed information handling system may be tailored tothe specific needs of the services that will be provided by the composedinformation handling system.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the system includes asystem control processor manager (50). The system control processormanager (50) may provide composed information handling systemcomposition services. Composed information handling system compositionservices may include (i) obtaining composition requests for composedinformation handling systems and (ii) aggregating computing resourcesfrom the information handling systems (60) and/or external resources(30) using system control processors to service the composition requestsby instantiating composed information handling systems in accordancewith the requests. By doing so, instantiated composed informationhandling systems may provide computer implemented services in accordancewith the composition requests.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the system controlprocessor manager (50) instantiates composed information handlingsystems in accordance with a three resource set model. As will bediscussed in greater detail below, the computing resources of aninformation handling system may be divided into three logical resourcesets: a compute resource set, a control resource set, and a hardwareresource set. Different resource sets, or portions thereof, from thesame or different information handling systems may be aggregated (e.g.,caused to operate as a computing device) to instantiate a composedinformation handling system having at least one resource set from eachset of the three resource set model.

By logically dividing the computing resources of an information handlingsystem into these resource sets, different quantities and types ofcomputing resource may be allocated to each composed informationhandling system thereby enabling the resources allocated to therespective information handling system to match performed workloads.Further, dividing the computing resources in accordance with the threeset model may enable different resource sets to be differentiated (e.g.,given different personalities) to provide different functionalities.Consequently, composed information handling systems may be composed onthe basis of desired functionalities rather than just on the basis ofaggregate resources to be included in the composed information handlingsystem.

Additionally, by composing composed information handling systems in thismanner, the control resource set of each composed information handlingsystem may be used to consistently deploy management services across anynumber of composed information handling systems. Consequently,embodiments of the invention may provide a framework for unifiedsecurity, manageability, resource management/composability, workloadmanagement, and distributed system management by use of this threeresource set model. For additional details regarding the system controlprocessor manager (50), refer to FIG. 4.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, a composed informationhandling system is a device that is formed using all, or a portion, ofthe computing resources of the information handling systems (60), theexternal resources (30), and/or other types of hardware devices operablyconnected to the information handling systems (60). The composedinformation handling system may utilize the computing resourcesallocated to it to provide computer implemented services. For example,the composed information handling system may host one or moreapplications that utilize the computing resources assigned to thecomposed information handling system. The applications may provide thecomputer implemented services.

To instantiate composed information handling systems, the informationhandling systems (60) may include at least three resource sets includinga control resource set. The control resource set may include a systemcontrol processor. The system control processor of each informationhandling system may coordinate with the system control processor manager(50) to enable composed information handling systems to be instantiated.For example, the system control processor of an information handlingsystem may provide telemetry data regarding the computing resources ofan information handling system, may perform actions on behalf of thesystem control processor manager (50) to aggregate computing resourcestogether, may organize the performance of duplicative workloads toimprove the likelihood that workloads are completed, and/or may provideservices that unify the operation of composed information handlingsystems.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, compute resource sets ofcomposed information handling systems are presented with bare metalresources by control resource sets even when the presented resources areactually being managed using one or more layers of abstraction,emulation, virtualization, security model, etc. For example, the systemcontrol processors of the control resource sets may provide theabstraction, emulation, virtualization, and/or other services whilepresenting the resources as bare metal resources. Consequently, theseservices may be transparent to applications hosted by the computeresource sets of composed information handling systems thereby enablinguniform deployment of such services without requiring implementation ofcontrol plane entities hosted by the compute resource sets of thecomposed information handling systems. For additional details regardingthe information handling systems (60), refer to FIG. 1.2.

The external resources (30) may be computing resources that may beallocated for use by composed information handling systems. For example,the external resources (30) may include hardware devices that provideany number and type of computing resources. The composed informationhandling system may use these resources to provide theirfunctionalities. Different external resources (e.g., 32, 34) may providesimilar or different computing resources.

The system of FIG. 1.1 may include any number of information handlingsystems (e.g., 62, 64), any number of external resources (e.g., 32, 34),and any number of system control processor managers (e.g., 50). Any ofthe components of FIG. 1.1 may be operably connected to any othercomponent and/or other components not illustrated in FIG. 1.1 via one ormore networks (e.g., 130). The networks may be implemented using anycombination of wired and/or wireless network topologies.

The system control processor manager (50), information handling systems(60), and/or external resources (30) may be implemented using computingdevices. The computing devices may include, for example, a server,laptop computer, a desktop computer, a node of a distributed system,etc. The computing device may include one or more processors, memory(e.g., random access memory), and/or persistent storage (e.g., diskdrives, solid state drives, etc.). The persistent storage may storecomputer instructions, e.g., computer code, that (when executed by theprocessor(s) of the computing device) cause the computing device toperform the functions of the system control processor manager (50),information handling systems (60), and/or external resources (30)described in this application and/or all, or a portion, of the methodsillustrated in FIGS. 5.1-5.4. The system control processor manager (50),information handling systems (60), and/or external resources (30) may beimplemented using other types of computing devices without departingfrom the invention. For additional details regarding computing devices,refer to FIG. 7.

While the information handling system (60) has been illustrated anddescribed as including a limited number of specific components, aninformation handling system in accordance with embodiments of theinvention may include additional, fewer, and/or different componentswithout departing from the invention.

Turning to FIG. 1.2, FIG. 1.2 shows a diagram of an information handlingsystem (100) in accordance with one or more embodiments of theinvention. Any of the information handling systems (e.g., 60) of FIG.1.1 may be similar to the information handling system (100) illustratedin FIG. 1.2.

As discussed above, the information handling system (100) may provideany quantity and type of computer implemented services. To provide thecomputer implemented services, resources of the information handlingsystem may be used to instantiate one or more composed informationhandling systems. The composed information handling systems may providethe computer implemented services.

To provide computer implemented services, the information handlingsystem (100) may include any number and type of hardware devicesincluding, for example, one or more processors (106), any quantity andtype of processor dedicated memory (104), one or more system controlprocessors (114), and any number of hardware resources (118). Thesehardware devices may be logically divided into three resource setsincluding a compute resource set (102), a control resource set (108),and a hardware resource set (110).

The control resource set (108) of the information handling system (100)may facilitate formation of composed information handling systems. To doso, the control resource set (108) may prepare any quantity of resourcesfrom any number of hardware resource sets (e.g., 110) (e.g., of theinformation handling system (100) and/or other information handlingsystems) for presentation to processing resources of any number ofcomputing resource sets (e.g., 102) (e.g., of the information handlingsystem (100) and/or other information handling systems). Once prepared,the control resource set (108) may present the prepared resources asbare metal resources to the processors (e.g., 106) of the allocatedcomputing resources. By doing so, a composed information handling systemmay be instantiated.

To prepare the resources of the hardware resource sets for presentation,the control resource set (108) may employ, for example, virtualization,indirection, abstraction, and/or emulation. These managementfunctionalities may be transparent to applications hosted by theresulting instantiated composed information handling systems.Consequently, while unknown to the control plane entities of thecomposed information handling system, the composed information handlingsystem may operate in accordance with any number of management modelsthereby providing for unified control and management of composedinformation handling systems. These functionalities may be transparentto applications hosted by composed information handling systems therebyrelieving them from overhead associated with these functionalities.

For example, consider a scenario where a compute resource set isinstructed to instantiate a composed information handling systemincluding a compute resource set and a hardware resource set that willcontribute storage resources to the compute resource set. The computeresource set may virtualize the storage resources of the hardwareresource set to enable a select quantity of the storage resources to beallocated to the composed information handling system while reservingsome of the storage resources for allocation to other composedinformation handling systems. However, the prepared storage resourcesmay be presented to the compute resource set as bare metal resources.Consequently, the compute resource set may not need to host any controlplane entities or otherwise incur overhead for utilizing the virtualizedstorage resources.

The compute resource set (102) may include one or more processors (106)operably connected to the processor dedicated memory (104).Consequently, the compute resource set (102) may host any number ofexecuting processes thereby enabling any number and type of workloads tobe performed. When performing the workloads, the compute resource set(102) may utilize computing resources provided by the hardware resourceset (110) of the information handling system (100), hardware resourcesets of other information handling systems, and/or external resources.

The processors (106) of the compute resource set (102) may be operablyconnected to one or more system control processors (114) of the controlresource set (108). For example, the processors (106) may be connectedto a compute resource interface (112), which is also connected to thesystem control processors (114).

The system control processors (114) of the hardware resource set (110)may present computing resources to the processors (106) as bare metalresources. In other words, from the point of view of the processors(106), any number of bare metal resources may be operably connected toit via the compute resources interface (112) when, in reality, thesystem control processors (114) are operably connected to the processors(106) via the compute resources interface (112). In other words, thesystem control processors (114) may manage presentation of other typesof resources to the compute resource set (102).

By presenting the computing resources to the processors as bare metalresources, control plane entities (e.g., applications) such ashypervisors, emulators, and/or other types of management entities maynot need to be hosted (e.g., executed) by the processors (106) for theprocessors (106) and entities hosted by them to utilize the computingresources allocated to a composed information handling system.Accordingly, all of the processing resources provided by the computeresource set (102) may be dedicated to providing the computerimplemented services.

For example, the processors (106) may utilize mapped memory addresses tocommunicate with the bare metal resources presented by the systemcontrol processors (114) to the processors (106). The system controlprocessors (114) may obtain these communications and appropriately remap(e.g., repackage, redirect, encapsulate, etc.) the communications to theactual hardware devices providing the computing resources, which theprocessors (106) are interacting with via the compute resourcesinterface (112) and/or hardware resources interface (116), discussedbelow. Consequently, indirection, remapping, and/or other functionsrequired for resource virtualization, emulation, abstraction, or othermethods of resource allocation (other than bare metal) and manage maynot need to be implemented via the processors (106).

By doing so, any number of functions for a composed information handlingsystem may be automatically performed in a manner that is transparent tothe control plane. Accordingly, a composed information handling systemmay operate in a manner consistent with a unified, consistentarchitecture or model (e.g., communications model, data storage model,etc.) by configuring the operation of one or more system controlprocessors in a manner consistent with the architecture or model.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, control plane entitiesutilize computing resources presented through one or more layers ofindirection, abstraction, virtualization, etc. In other words, anindirect user of hardware devices and computing resources providedthereby.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, data plane entitiesdirectly utilize computing resources. For example, data plane entitiesmay instruct hardware devices on their operation thereby directlyutilizing computing resources provided thereby. Data plane entities maypresent the computing resources to control plane entities using one ormore layers of indirection, abstraction, virtualization, etc.

The system control processors (114) may present any number of resourcesoperably connected to it (e.g., the hardware resource set (110), otherresources operably connected to it via an interface (e.g., hardwareresources interface (116), etc.) as bare metal resources to theprocessors (106) of the compute resource set (102). Consequently, thesystem control processors (114) may implement device discovery processescompatible with the processors (106) to enable the processors (106) toutilize the presented computing resources.

For example, the hardware resource set (110) may include hardwareresources (118) operably connected to the system control processors(114) via a hardware resources interface (116). The hardware resources(118) may include any number and type of hardware devices that providecomputing resources. For additional details regarding the hardwareresources (118), refer to FIG. 2.

In another example, the system control processors (114) may be operablyconnected to other hardware resource sets of other information handlingsystems via hardware resources interface (116), network (130), and/orother system control processors of the other information handlingsystems. The system control processors may cooperatively enable hardwareresource sets of other information handling systems to be prepared andpresented as bare metal resources to the compute resource set (102).

In an additional example, the system control processors (114) may beoperably connected to external resources via hardware resourcesinterface (116) and network (130). The system control processors (114)may prepare and present the external resources as bare metal resourcesto the compute resource set (102).

For additional details regarding the operation and functions of thesystem control processors (114), refer to FIG. 3.

The compute resources interface (112) may be implemented using anysuitable interconnection technology including, for example, system busessuch as compute express links or other interconnection protocols. Thecompute resources interface (112) may support any input/output (IO)protocol, any memory protocol, any coherence interface, etc. The computeresources interface (112) may support processor to device connections,processor to memory connections, and/or other types of connections. Thecompute resources interface (112) may be implemented using one or morehardware devices including circuitry adapted to provide thefunctionality of the compute resources interface (112).

The hardware resources interface (116) may be implemented using anysuitable interconnection technology including, for example, system busessuch as compute express links or other interconnection protocols. Thehardware resources interface (116) may support any input/output (IO)protocol, any memory protocol, any coherence interface, etc. Thehardware resources interface (116) may support processor to deviceconnections, processor to memory connections, and/or other types ofconnections. The hardware resources interface (116) may be implementedusing one or more hardware devices including circuitry adapted toprovide the functionality of the hardware resources interface (116).

In some embodiments of the invention, the compute resource set (102),control resource set (108), and/or hardware resource set (110) may beimplemented as separate physical devices. In such a scenario, thecompute resources interface (112) and hardware resources interface (116)may include one or more networks enabling these resource sets tocommunicate with one another. Consequently, any of these resource sets(e.g., 102, 108, 110) may include network interface cards or otherdevices to enable the hardware devices of the respective resource setsto communicate with each other.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the system controlprocessors (114) support multiple, independent connections. For example,the system control processors (114) may support a first networkcommunications connection (e.g., an in-band connection) that may beallocated for use by applications hosted by the processors (106). Thesystem control processors (114) may also support a second networkcommunications connection (e.g., an out-of-band connection) that may beallocated for use by applications hosted by the system controlprocessors (114). The out-of-band connection may be utilized formanagement and control purposes while the in-band connection may beutilized to provide computer implemented services. These connections maybe associated with different network endpoints thereby enablingcommunications to be selectively directed toward applications hosted bythe processors (106) and/or system control processors (114). As will bediscussed in greater detail with respect to FIG. 3, the system controlprocessors (114) may utilize the out-of-band connections to communicatewith other devices to manage (e.g., instantiate, monitor, modify, etc.)composed information handling systems.

The network (130) may correspond to any type of network and may beoperably connected to the Internet or other networks thereby enablingthe information handling system (100) to communicate with any number andtype of other devices.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, access to the network (130)by the information handling systems (100) may be managed by accesscontrol managers (ACMs). An ACM of an information handling system may bea system that manages the entities that may access the components of thecorresponding information handling system. The programming of the ACMsmay be performed by, for example, the information handling system, thesystem control processor manager (50), and/or any other entityillustrated in FIG. 1.1.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, each of the access controlmanagers is implemented as a firewall. The firewall may be a networksecurity system designed to monitor, control, and/or otherwise manageincoming and outgoing network traffic between the composed informationhandling system. The firewall may be a logical set of instructionsimplemented by, for example, a processor of the information handlingsystem (e.g., 62, 64) that enables the information handling system toexecute the functionality of the firewall as described throughout theapplication.

The information handling system (100) may be implemented using computingdevices. The computing devices may be, for example, a server, laptopcomputer, desktop computer, node of a distributed system, etc. Thecomputing device may include one or more processors, memory (e.g.,random access memory), and/or persistent storage (e.g., disk drives,solid state drives, etc.). The persistent storage may store computerinstructions, e.g., computer code, that (when executed by theprocessor(s) of the computing device) cause the computing device toperform the functions of the information handling system (100) describedin this application and/or all, or a portion, of the methods illustratedin FIGS. 5.1-5.4. The information handling system (100) may beimplemented using other types of computing devices without departingfrom the invention. For additional details regarding computing devices,refer to FIG. 7.

While the information handling system (100) has been illustrated anddescribed as including a limited number of specific components, aninformation handling system in accordance with embodiments of theinvention may include additional, fewer, and/or different componentswithout departing from the invention.

Turning to FIG. 2, FIG. 2 shows a diagram of the hardware resources(118) in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. Asnoted above, system control processors of information handling systemmay present resources including, for example, some of the hardwareresources (118) to form a composed information handling system.

The hardware resources (118) may include any number and types ofhardware devices that may provide any quantity and type of computingresources. For example, the hardware resources (118) may include storagedevices (200), memory devices (202), and special purpose devices (204).

The storage devices (200) may provide storage resources (e.g.,persistent storage) in which applications hosted by a composedinformation handling system may store data including any type andquantity of information. The storage devices (200) may include any typeand quantity of devices for storing data. The devices may include, forexample, hard disk drives, solid state drives, tape drives, etc. Thestorage devices (200) may include other types of devices for providingstorage resources without departing from the invention. For example, thestorage devices (200) may include controllers (e.g., redundant array ofdisk controllers), load balancers, and/or other types of devices.

The memory devices (202) may provide memory resources (e.g., transitoryand/or persistent storage) in which a composed information handlingsystem may store data including any type and quantity of information.The memory devices (202) may include any type and quantity of devicesfor storing data. The devices may include, for example, transitorymemory such as random access memory, persistent memory such asenterprise class memory, etc. The memory devices (202) may include othertypes of devices for providing memory resources without departing fromthe invention. For example, the storage devices (200) may includecontrollers (e.g., replication managers), load balancers, and/or othertypes of devices.

The special purpose devices (204) may provide other types of computingresources (e.g., graphics processing resources, computation accelerationresources, etc.) to composed information handling systems. The specialpurpose devices (204) may include any type and quantity of devices forproviding other types of computing resources. The special purposedevices (204) may include, for example, graphics processing units forproviding graphics processing resources, compute accelerators foraccelerating corresponding workloads performed by composed informationhandling systems, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) forperforming other functionalities, digital signal processors forfacilitating high speed communications, etc. The special purpose devices(204) may include other types of devices for providing other types ofcomputing resources without departing from the invention.

The system control processors of the information handling systems maymediate presentation of the computing resources provided by the hardwareresources (118) to computing resource sets (e.g., as bare metalresources to processors). When doing so, the system control processorsmay provide a layer of abstraction that enables the hardware resources(118) to be, for example, virtualized, emulated as being compatible withother systems, and/or directly connected to the compute resource sets(e.g., pass through). Consequently, the computing resources of thehardware resources (118) may be finely, or at a macro level, allocatedto different composed information handling systems.

Additionally, the system control processors may manage operation ofthese hardware devices in accordance with one or more models including,for example, data protection models, security models, workloadperformance availability models, reporting models, etc. For example, thesystem control processors may instantiate redundant performance ofworkloads for high availability services.

The manner of operation of these devices may be transparent to thecomputing resource sets utilizing these hardware devices for providingcomputer implemented services. Consequently, even though the resultingcomposed information handling system control plane may be unaware of theimplementation of these models, the composed information handlingsystems may still operate in accordance with these models therebyproviding a unified method of managing the operation of composedinformation handling systems.

While the hardware resources (118) have been illustrated and describedas including a limited number of specific components, local hardwareresources in accordance with embodiments of the invention may includeadditional, fewer, and/or different components without departing fromthe invention.

As discussed above, information handling systems may include systemcontrol processors that may be used to instantiate composed informationhandling systems. FIG. 3 shows a diagram of a system control processor(298) in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. Anyof the system control processors included in control resources sets ofFIG. 1.2 may be similar to the system control processor (298)illustrated in FIG. 3.

The system control processor (298) may facilitate instantiation andoperation of composed information handling systems. By doing so, asystem that includes information handling systems may dynamicallyinstantiate composed information handling systems to provide computerimplemented services.

To instantiate and operate composed information handling systems, thesystem control processor (298) may include a composition manager (300),a physical resources manager (302), an emulated resources manager (304),a virtual resources manager (306), an operations manager (308), hardwareresource services (310), and storage (312). Each of these components ofthe system control processor is discussed below.

The composition manager (300) may manage the process of instantiatingand operating composed information handling systems. To provide thesemanagement services, the composition manager (300) may includefunctionality to (i) obtain information regarding the hardwarecomponents of the information handling system (e.g., obtain telemetrydata regarding the information handling system), (ii) provide theobtained information to other entities (e.g., management entities suchas system control processor manager (50, FIG. 1.1)), (iii) obtaincomposition requests for composed information handling systems, (iv)based on the composition requests, prepare and present resources as baremetal resources to compute resource sets, (v) instantiate applicationsin composed information handling systems to cause the composedinformation handling systems to provide computer implemented services,conform their operation to security models, etc., (vi) manage theoperation of the composed information handling systems by, for example,duplicating performance of workloads to improve the likelihood that theoutput of workloads are available, (vii) add/remove/modify resourcespresented to the compute resource sets of composed information handlingsystems dynamically in accordance with workloads being performed by thecomposed information handling systems, and/or (viii) coordinate withother system control processors to provide distributed systemfunctionalities. By providing the above functionalities, a systemcontrol processor in accordance with one or more embodiments of theinvention may enable distributed resources from any number ofinformation handling systems to be aggregated into a composedinformation handling system to provide computer implemented services.

To obtain information regarding the hardware components of theinformation handling system, the composition manager (300) may inventorythe components of the information handling system hosting the systemcontrol processor. The inventory may include, for example, the type andmodel of each hardware component, versions of firmware or other codeexecuting on the hardware components, and/or information regardinghardware components of the information handling system that may beallocated to form composed information handling systems.

The composition manager (300) may obtain composition requests from otherentities (e.g., management entities tasked with instantiating composedinformation handling systems), as pre-loaded instructions present instorage of the system control processor, and/or via other methods. Thecomposition requests may specify, for example, the types and quantitiesof computing resources to be allocated to a composed informationhandling system.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the composition requestsspecify the computing resource allocations using an intent based model.For example, rather than specifying specific hardware devices (orportions thereof) to be allocated to a particular compute resource setto obtain a composed information handling system, the resource requestsmay only specify that a composed information handling system is to beinstantiated having predetermined characteristics, that a composedinformation handling system will perform certain workloads or executecertain applications, and/or that the composed information handlingsystem be able to perform one or more predetermined functionalities. Insuch a scenario, the composition manager may decide how to instantiatethe composed information handling system (e.g., which resources toallocate, how to allocate the resources (e.g., virtualization,emulation, redundant workload performance, data integrity models toemploy, etc.), to which compute resource set(s) to present correspondingcomputing resources, etc.).

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the composition requestsspecify the computing resource allocations using an explicit model. Forexample, the composition requests may specify (i) the resources to beallocated, (ii) the manner of presentation of those resources (e.g.,emulating a particular type of device using a virtualized resource vs.path through directly to a hardware component), and (iii) the computeresource set(s) to which each of the allocated resources are to bepresented.

In addition to specifying resource allocations, the composition requestsmay also specify, for example, applications to be hosted by the composedinformation handling systems, security models to be employed by thecomposed information handling systems, communication models to beemployed by the composed information handling systems, services to beprovided to the composed information handling systems, user/entityaccess credentials for use of the composed information handling systems,and/or other information usable to place the composed informationhandling systems into states in which the composed information handlingsystems provide desired computer implemented services.

To prepare and present resources to compute resource sets based on thecomposition requests, the system control processors may implement, forexample, abstraction, indirection, virtualization, mapping, emulation,and/or other types of services that may be used to present any type ofresources as a resource that is capable of bare metal utilization bycompute resource sets. To provide these services, the compositionmanager (300) may invoke the functionality of the physical resourcesmanager (302), the emulated resources manager (304), and/or the virtualresources manager (306).

Additionally, the system control processors may take into account animportance of completion of workloads when preparing and presentingresources. For example, some workloads that may be performed by varioushardware devices may be critical (e.g., high availability workloads) tothe computer implemented services to be provided by a composedinformation handling system. In such a scenario, the system controlprocessor may over allocate resources (e.g., beyond that requested by acompute resource set) for performance of the workloads so that at leasttwo instances of the workloads can be performed using duplicativeresources. By doing so, it may be more likely that at least one of theworkloads will be completed successfully. Consequently, the systemcontrol processor may provide the output of one of the workloads tocompute resource sets of a composed information handling system.

When presenting the resources to the compute resource sets, the systemcontrol processor (298) may present the resources using an emulated dataplane. For example, the system control processors (298) may receive baremetal communications (e.g., IO from the processors) and respond in amanner consistent with responses of corresponding bare metal devices(e.g., memory). When doing so, the system control processor (298) maytranslate the communications into actions. The actions may be providedto the hardware devices used by the system control processor (298) topresent the bare metal resources to the compute resource set(s). Inturn, the hardware devices may perform the actions which results in acomposed information handling system providing desired computerimplemented services.

In some scenarios, multiple system control processors may cooperate topresent bare metal resources to a compute resource set. For example, asingle information handling system may not include sufficient hardwaredevices to present a quantity and/or type of resources to a computeresource set as specified by a composition request (e.g., present twostorage devices to a compute resource set when a single informationhandling system only includes a single storage device). In thisscenario, a second system control processor of a second informationhandling system operably connected to the system control processortasked with presenting the resources to a compute resource set mayprepare one of its storage devices for presentation. Once prepared, thesecond system control processor may communicate with the system controlprocessor to enable the system control processor to present the preparedstorage device (i.e., the storage device in the information handlingsystem) to the compute resource set. By doing so, resources frommultiple information handling systems may be aggregated to present adesired quantity of resources to compute resource set(s) to form acomposed information handling system.

By forming composed information handling systems as discussed above,embodiments of the invention may provide a system that is able toeffectively utilize distributed resources across a range of devices toprovide computer implemented services.

The physical resources manager (302) may manage presentation ofresources to compute resource sets. For example, the physical resourcesmanager (302) may generate, for example, translation tables that specifyactions to be performed in response to bare metal communicationsobtained from compute resource sets. The translation tables may be usedto take action in response to communications from compute resource sets.

The physical resources manager (302) may generate the translation tablesbased on the components of the compute resource sets, allocations orother types of commands/communications obtained from the computeresource sets, and the resources of the information handling systemallocated to service the compute resource set. For example, when acompute resource set is presented with a bare metal resource, it may gothrough a discovery process to prepare the bare metal resource for use.As the discovery process proceeds, the compute resource set may sendcommands/communications to the bare metal resource to, for example,discover its address range. The physical resources manager (302) maymonitor this process, respond appropriately, and generate thetranslation table based on these commands and the resources available toservice these bare metal commands/communications.

For example, consider a scenario where a virtualized disk is allocatedto service bare metal storage commands from a compute resource set. Insuch a scenario, the physical resources manager (302) may generate atranslation table that translates physical write from the computeresource set to virtualized writes corresponding to the virtualizeddisk. Consequently, the virtualized disk may be used by the systemcontrol processor (298) to present bare metal resources to the computeresource set.

The emulated resources manager (304) may generate emulation tables thatenable resources that would otherwise be incompatible with a computeresource set to be compatible with the compute resource set. Differenttypes of hardware devices of a compute resource set may be compatiblewith different types of hardware devices. Consequently, resourcesallocated to provide bare metal resources may not necessarily becompatible with the hardware devices of a compute resource set. Theemulated resources manager (304) may generate emulation tables that mapbare metal communications obtained from a compute resource set toactions that are compatible with resources allocated to provide baremetal resources to the compute resource sets.

The virtual resources manager (306) may manage virtualized resourcesthat may be allocated to provide bare metal resources to computeresource sets. For example, the virtual resources manager (306) mayinclude hypervisor functionality to virtualized hardware resources andallocate portions of the virtualized resources for use in providing baremetal resources.

While the physical resources manager (302), emulated resources manager(304), and virtual resources manager (306) have been described asgenerating tables, these components of the system control processor maygenerate other types of data structures or utilize different managementmodels to provide their respective functionalities without departingfrom the invention.

The functionalities of the physical resources manager (302), emulatedresources manager (304), and virtual resources manager (306) may beutilized in isolation and/or combination to provide bare metal resourcesto compute resource sets. By doing so, the system control processor(298) may address compatibility issues, sizing issues to match availableresources to those that are to be allocated, and/or other issues toenable bare metal resources to be presented to compute resource sets.

When providing bare metal resources, the composition manager (300) mayinvoke the functionality of the physical resources manager (302),emulated resources manager (304), and virtual resources manager (306).Consequently, resources may be presented as bare metal resources viapass-through (i.e., forwarding TO from compute resource sets to hardwaredevices), bare metal resource addressing of virtualized resources,and/or as emulated resources compatible with the hardware components ofthe compute resource set.

The functionality of the physical resources manager (302), emulatedresources manager (304), and virtual resources manager (306) may beinvoked using any communication model including, for example, messagepassing, state sharing, memory sharing, etc.

The operations manager (308) may manage the general operation of thesystem control processor (298). For example, the operations manager(308) may operate as an operating system or other entity that managesthe resources of the system control processor (298). The compositionmanager (300), physical resources manager (302), emulated resourcesmanager (304), virtual resources manager (306), and/or other entitieshosted by the system control processor (298) may call or otherwiseutilize the operations manager (308) to obtain appropriate resources(e.g., processing resources, memory resources, storage, communications,etc.) to provide their functionalities.

The hardware resource services (310) may facilitate use of the hardwarecomponents of any number of hardware resource sets (e.g., 110, FIG.1.2). For example, the hardware resource services (310) may includedriver functionality to appropriately communicate with the hardwaredevices of hardware resource sets. The hardware resource services (310)may be invoked by, for example, the operations manager (308).

When providing their functionalities, any of the aforementionedcomponents of the system control processor (298) may perform all, or aportion, of the methods illustrated in FIGS. 5.1-5.4.

The system control processor (298) may be implemented using computingdevices. The computing devices may be, for example, an embeddedcomputing device such as a system on a chip, a processing deviceoperably coupled to memory and storage, or another type of computingdevice. The computing device may include one or more processors, memory(e.g., random access memory), and/or persistent storage (e.g., diskdrives, solid state drives, etc.). The persistent storage may storecomputer instructions, e.g., computer code, that (when executed by theprocessor(s) of the computing device) cause the computing device toperform the functions of the system control processor (298) described inthis application and/or all, or a portion, of the methods illustrated inFIGS. 5.1-5.4. The system control processor (298) may be implementedusing other types of computing devices without departing from theinvention. For additional details regarding computing devices, refer toFIG. 7.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the system controlprocessor (298) is implemented as an on-board device. For example, thesystem control processor (298) may be implemented using a chip includingcircuitry disposed on a circuit card. The circuit card may also host thecompute resource sets and/or hardware resource sets managed by thesystem control processor (298).

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the composition manager(300), physical resources manager (302), emulated resources manager(304), virtual resources manager (306), operations manager (308), and/orhardware resource services (310) are implemented using a hardware deviceincluding circuitry. The hardware device may be, for example, a digitalsignal processor, a field programmable gate array, or an applicationspecific integrated circuit. The circuitry may be adapted to cause thehardware device to perform the functionality of the composition manager(300), physical resources manager (302), emulated resources manager(304), virtual resources manager (306), operations manager (308), and/orhardware resource services (310). The composition manager (300),physical resources manager (302), emulated resources manager (304),virtual resources manager (306), operations manager (308), and/orhardware resource services (310) may be implemented using other types ofhardware devices without departing from the invention.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the composition manager(300), physical resources manager (302), emulated resources manager(304), virtual resources manager (306), operations manager (308), and/orhardware resource services (310) are implemented using a processoradapted to execute computing code stored on a persistent storage (e.g.,as part of the system control processor (298) or operably connected tothe system control processor (298) thereby enabling processors of thesystem control processor (298) to obtain and execute the computing code)that when executed by the processor performs the functionality of thecomposition manager (300), physical resources manager (302), emulatedresources manager (304), virtual resources manager (306), operationsmanager (308), and/or hardware resource services (310). The processormay be a hardware processor including circuitry such as, for example, acentral processing unit or a microcontroller. The processor may be othertypes of hardware devices for processing digital information withoutdeparting from the invention.

As used herein, an entity that is programmed to perform a function(e.g., step, action, etc.) refers to one or more hardware devices (e.g.,processors, digital signal processors, field programmable gate arrays,application specific integrated circuits, etc.) that provide thefunction. The hardware devices may be programmed to do so by, forexample, being able to execute computer instructions (e.g., computercode) that cause the hardware devices to provide the function. Inanother example, the hardware device may be programmed to do so byhaving circuitry that has been adapted (e.g., modified) to perform thefunction. An entity that is programmed to perform a function does notinclude computer instructions in isolation from any hardware devices.Computer instructions may be used to program a hardware device that,when programmed, provides the function.

In one or more embodiments disclosed herein, the storage (312) isimplemented using physical devices that provide data storage services(e.g., storing data and providing copies of previously stored data). Thedevices that provide data storage services may include hardware devicesand/or logical devices. For example, storage (312) may include anyquantity and/or combination of memory devices (i.e., volatile storage),long term storage devices (i.e., persistent storage), other types ofhardware devices that may provide short term and/or long term datastorage services, and/or logical storage devices (e.g., virtualpersistent storage/virtual volatile storage).

For example, storage (312) may include a memory device (e.g., a dual inline memory device) in which data is stored and from which copies ofpreviously stored data are provided. In another example, storage (312)may include a persistent storage device (e.g., a solid-state disk drive)in which data is stored and from which copies of previously stored datais provided. In a still further example, storage (312) may include (i) amemory device (e.g., a dual in line memory device) in which data isstored and from which copies of previously stored data are provided and(ii) a persistent storage device that stores a copy of the data storedin the memory device (e.g., to provide a copy of the data in the eventthat power loss or other issues with the memory device that may impactits ability to maintain the copy of the data cause the memory device tolose the data).

The storage (312) may also be implemented using logical storage. Alogical storage (e.g., virtual disk) may be implemented using one ormore physical storage devices whose storage resources (all, or aportion) are allocated for use using a software layer. Thus, a logicalstorage may include both physical storage devices and an entityexecuting on a processor or other hardware device that allocates thestorage resources of the physical storage devices.

The storage (312) may store data structures including, for example,composed information handling system data (314) and a resource map(316). Each of these data structures is discussed below.

The composed information handling system data (314) may be implementedusing one or more data structures that includes information regardingcomposed information handling systems. For example, the composedinformation handling system data (314) may specify identifiers ofcomposed information handling systems and resources that have beenallocated to the composed information handling systems.

The composed information handling system data (314) may also includeinformation regarding the operation of the composed information handlingsystems. The information may include, for example, workload performancedata, resource utilization rates over time, and/or other informationthat may be utilized to manage the operation of the composed informationhandling systems.

The composed information handling system data (314) may further includeinformation regarding management models employed by system controlprocessors. For example, the composed information handling system data(314) may include information regarding duplicative data stored for dataintegrity purposes, redundantly performed workloads to meet highavailability service requirements, encryption schemes utilized toprevent unauthorized access of data, etc.

The composed information handling system data (314) may be maintainedby, for example, the composition manager (300). For example, thecomposition manager may add, remove, and/or modify information includedin the composed information handling system data (314) to cause theinformation included in the composed information handling system data(314) to reflect the state of the composed information handling systems.

The data structures of the composed information handling system data(314) may be implemented using, for example, lists, tables, unstructureddata, databases, etc. While illustrated in FIG. 3 as being storedlocally, the composed information handling system data (314) may bestored remotely and may be distributed across any number of deviceswithout departing from the invention.

The resource map (316) may be implemented using one or more datastructures that include information regarding resources of theinformation handling system and/or other information handling systems.For example, the resource map (316) may specify the type and/or quantityof resources (e.g., hardware devices, virtualized devices, etc.)available for allocation and/or that are already allocated to composedinformation handling systems. The resource map (316) may be used toprovide data to management entities such as system control processormanagers.

The data structures of the resource map (316) may be implemented using,for example, lists, tables, unstructured data, databases, etc. Whileillustrated in FIG. 3 as being stored locally, the resource map (316)may be stored remotely and may be distributed across any number ofdevices without departing from the invention.

The resource map (316) may be maintained by, for example, thecomposition manager (300). For example, the composition manager (300)may add, remove, and/or modify information included in the resource map(316) to cause the information included in the resource map (316) toreflect the state of the information handling system and/or otherinformation handling systems.

While the storage (312) has been illustrated and described as includinga limited number and type of data, a storage in accordance withembodiments of the invention may store additional, less, and/ordifferent data without departing from the invention.

While the system control processor (298) has been illustrated anddescribed as including a limited number of specific components, a systemcontrol processor in accordance with embodiments of the invention mayinclude additional, fewer, and/or different components without departingfrom the invention.

As discussed above, a system control processor manager may cooperatewith system control processors of control resource sets to instantiatecomposed information handling systems by presenting computing resourcesfrom hardware resource sets to processors of compute resource sets. FIG.4 shows a diagram of the system control processor manager (10) inaccordance with one or more embodiments of the invention.

The system control processor manager (10) may manage the process ofinstantiating composed information handling systems. To do so, thesystem control processor manager (10) may include an infrastructuremanager (402) and storage (410). Each of these components is discussedbelow.

The infrastructure manager (402) may provide composition services.Composition services may include obtaining composition requests forcomposed information handling systems, determining the resources toallocate to instantiate composed information handling systems, andcooperating with system control processors to allocate the identifiedresources. By doing so, the infrastructure manager (402) may cause anynumber of computer implemented services to be provided using thecomposed information handling systems.

To determine the resources to allocate to composed information handlingsystems, the infrastructure manager (402) may employ an intent basedmodel that translates an intent expressed in a composition request toone or more allocations of computing resources. For example, theinfrastructure manager (402) may utilize an outcome based computingresource requirements lookup table (414) to match an expressed intent toresources to be allocated to satisfy that intent. The outcome basedcomputing resource requirements lookup table (414) may specify the type,quantity, method of management, and/or other information regarding anynumber of computing resources that when aggregated will be able tosatisfy a corresponding intent. The infrastructure manager (402) mayidentify resources for allocation to satisfy composition requests viaother methods without departing from the invention.

To cooperate with the system control processors, the infrastructuremanager (402) may obtain telemetry data regarding the computingresources of any number of information handling systems and/or externalresources that are available for allocation. The infrastructure manager(402) may aggregate this data in a telemetry data map (412) which may besubsequently used to identify resources of any number of informationhandling systems and/or external resources to satisfy compositionrequests (e.g., instantiate one or more composed information handlingsystems to meet the requirements of the composition requests).

When the infrastructure manager (402) identifies the computing resourcesto be allocated, the infrastructure manager (402) may communicate withany number of system control processors to implement the identifiedallocations. For example, the infrastructure manager (402) may notify asystem control processor of a control resource set that portions of ahardware resource set are to be allocated to a compute resource set toinstantiate a composed information handling system. The system controlprocessor may then take action (e.g., prepare the portion of thehardware resource set for presentation to a processor of the computeresource set) in response to the notification.

As composed information handling systems are instantiated, theinfrastructure manager (402) may add information reflecting theresources allocated to composed information handling systems, theworkloads being performed by the composed information handling systems,and/or other types of information to a composed infrastructure map(416). The infrastructure manager (402) may utilize this information to,for example, decide whether computing resources should be added to orremoved from composed information handling system. Consequently,computing resources may be dynamically re-provisioned over to meetchanging workloads imposed on composed information handling systems.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the infrastructure manager(402) is implemented using a hardware device including circuitry. Thehardware device may be, for example, a digital signal processor, a fieldprogrammable gate array, or an application specific integrated circuit.The circuitry may be adapted to cause the hardware device to perform thefunctionality of the infrastructure manager (402). The infrastructuremanager (402) may be implemented using other types of hardware deviceswithout departing from the invention.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the infrastructure manager(402) is implemented using a processor adapted to execute computing codestored on a persistent storage that when executed by the processorperforms the functionality of the infrastructure manager (402). Theprocessor may be a hardware processor including circuitry such as, forexample, a central processing unit or a microcontroller. The processormay be other types of hardware devices for processing digitalinformation without departing from the invention.

When providing its functionality, the infrastructure manager (402) mayperform all, or a portion, of the methods illustrated in FIGS. 5.1-5.4.

In one or more embodiments disclosed herein, the storage (410) isimplemented using physical devices that provide data storage services(e.g., storing data and providing copies of previously stored data). Thedevices that provide data storage services may include hardware devicesand/or logical devices. For example, storage (410) may include anyquantity and/or combination of memory devices (i.e., volatile storage),long term storage devices (i.e., persistent storage), other types ofhardware devices that may provide short term and/or long term datastorage services, and/or logical storage devices (e.g., virtualpersistent storage/virtual volatile storage).

For example, storage (410) may include a memory device (e.g., a dual inline memory device) in which data is stored and from which copies ofpreviously stored data are provided. In another example, storage (410)may include a persistent storage device (e.g., a solid-state disk drive)in which data is stored and from which copies of previously stored datais provided. In a still further example, storage (410) may include (i) amemory device (e.g., a dual in line memory device) in which data isstored and from which copies of previously stored data are provided and(ii) a persistent storage device that stores a copy of the data storedin the memory device (e.g., to provide a copy of the data in the eventthat power loss or other issues with the memory device that may impactits ability to maintain the copy of the data cause the memory device tolose the data).

The storage (410) may also be implemented using logical storage. Alogical storage (e.g., virtual disk) may be implemented using one ormore physical storage devices whose storage resources (all, or aportion) are allocated for use using a software layer. Thus, a logicalstorage may include both physical storage devices and an entityexecuting on a processor or other hardware device that allocates thestorage resources of the physical storage devices.

The storage (410) may store data structures including, for example, thetelemetry data map (412), outcome based computing resource requirementslookup table (414) and the composed infrastructure map (416). These datastructures may be maintained by, for example, the infrastructure manager(402). For example, the infrastructure manager (402) may add, remove,and/or modify information included in these data structures to cause theinformation included in these data structure to reflect the state of anynumber of information handling systems, external resources, and/orcomposed information handling systems.

Any of these data structures may be implemented using, for example,lists, tables, unstructured data, databases, etc. While illustrated inFIG. 4 as being stored locally, any of these data structures may bestored remotely and may be distributed across any number of deviceswithout departing from the invention.

While the storage (410) has been illustrated and described as includinga limited number and type of data, a storage in accordance withembodiments of the invention may store additional, less, and/ordifferent data without departing from the invention.

While the system control processor manager (10) has been illustrated anddescribed as including a limited number of specific components, a systemcontrol processor manager in accordance with embodiments of theinvention may include additional, fewer, and/or different componentsthan those illustrated in FIG. 4 without departing from the invention.

As discussed above, the system of FIG. 1.1 may provide computerimplemented services using composed information handling systems. FIGS.5.1-5.4 show methods that may be performed by components of the systemof FIG. 1.1 to manage composed information handling systems.

FIG. 5.1 shows a flowchart of a method in accordance with one or moreembodiments of the invention. The method depicted in FIG. 5.1 may beperformed to obtain resource availability and a network connectivitytopology in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention.The method shown in FIG. 5.1 may be performed by, for example, a systemcontrol processor manager (e.g., 50, FIG. 1.1). Other components of thesystem in FIGS. 1.1-4 may perform all, or a portion, of the method ofFIG. 5.1 without departing from the invention.

While FIG. 5.1 is illustrated as a series of steps, any of the steps maybe omitted, performed in a different order, additional steps may beincluded, and/or any or all of the steps may be performed in a paralleland/or partially overlapping manner without departing from theinvention.

In step 500, communication with a set of information handling systems isinitiated using access management systems. In one or more embodiments ofthe invention, the communication includes sending messages to eachaccess control manager (ACM) of the set of information handling systemto ensure that the ACMs are programmed to enable communication betweenthe corresponding information handling system and the system controlprocessor manager.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the ACMs are firewalls thateach, at least initially, only permit a corresponding informationhandling system to communicate with the system control processormanager. As resource allocation requests (discussed in FIG. 5.3) areserviced by the system control processor manager, the ACMs may beprogrammed to enable communication with other information handlingsystems such that composed information handling systems may beinstantiated in accordance with the resource allocation requests.

In step 502, resource availability requests are sent to each systemcontrol processor in the set of information handling systems. In one ormore embodiments of the invention, a resource availability requestrequests each information handling system to provide its availableresources. The available resources may be resources of an informationhandling system that have not been allocated to a composed informationhandling system.

Further, the resource availability request may specify providing networkavailability of each information handling system. The networkavailability of an information handling system may be determined basedon a total network capability (e.g., a total network bandwidth) and theamount of the total network capability that is being used. Thedifference between the total network capability and the amount of thetotal network capability that is being used is the network availability.

In step 504, resource availability responses are obtained that eachspecify available compute resource sets and hardware resource sets.Further, the resource availability responses may specify the networkavailability of the corresponding information handling systems. Forexample, an information handling system may have a network bandwidth ofX, and 30% of the network bandwidth may be utilized for providingadditional resources to composed information handling systems. In suchexample, the resource availability response, in addition to specifyingthe available resources, specifies the 70% of X as available networkbandwidth of the information handling system.

In step 506, a network connectivity topology is obtained based onconnections between the information handling systems in the set. In oneor more embodiments of the invention, the network connectivity topologyis a data structure that provides an overall view of the networkavailability of each information handling system. Further, the networkconnectivity topology may specify which information handling systems arecommunicating with each other to instantiate composed informationhandling systems. The network connectivity topology may be generatedbased on the obtained resource availability responses.

FIG. 5.2 shows a flowchart of a method in accordance with one or moreembodiments of the invention. The method depicted in FIG. 5.2 may beperformed to generate a composed information handling system based on acomposition request in accordance with one or more embodiments of theinvention. The method shown in FIG. 5.2 may be performed by, forexample, a system control processor (e.g., 114, FIG. 1.2). Othercomponents of the system in FIGS. 1.1-4 may perform all, or a portion,of the method of FIG. 5.2 without departing from the invention.

While FIG. 5.2 is illustrated as a series of steps, any of the steps maybe omitted, performed in a different order, additional steps may beincluded, and/or any or all of the steps may be performed in a paralleland/or partially overlapping manner without departing from theinvention.

In step 511, a composition request is obtained for a composedinformation handling system. The composition request may be obtainedusing any method without departing from the invention. For example, thecomposition request may be obtained as part of a message from anotherentity operably connected to a system control processor manager. Inanother example, the composition request may be locally stored in astorage of a system control processor manager.

The composition request may be a data structure specifying that thecomposed information handling system is to be instantiated. As discussedwith respect to FIG. 3, the composition request may be specific (i.e.,includes a listing of resources to be allocated to the composedinformation handling system) or intent based (i.e., a desired outcomewithout specifying the resources to be allocated). The compositionrequest may include any type and quantity of information usable todetermine how to instantiate a composed information handling system.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the composition requestincludes a list of computing resources to be allocated to the composedinformation handling system. For example, the composition request mayspecify computing resources, memory resources, storage resources,graphics processing resources, compute acceleration resources,communications resources, etc. The list may include any type andquantity of computing resources.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the composition requestspecifies how the computing resources are to be presented. For example,the composition request may specify virtualization, emulation, etc. forpresenting the computing resources.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the composition requestspecifies how the resources used to present the computing resources areto be managed (e.g., a management model such as data integrity,security, management, usability, performance, etc.). For example, thecomposition request may specify levels of redundancy for data storage,data integrity to be employed (e.g., redundant array of independentdisks (RAID), error correction code (ECC), etc.), levels of security tobe employed for resources (e.g., encryption), and/or other informationthat specifies how system control processors are to utilize resourcesfor presentation of resources to composed information handling systems.The methods employed by the system control processors may be transparentto the composed information handling systems because the resources maybe presented to the compute resource sets of the composed informationhandling systems as bare metal resources while the system controlprocessors provide the management functionality.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the composition requestincludes a list of applications to be hosted by the composed informationhandling system. The list may include any type and quantity ofapplications.

In step 512, at least one compute resource set having computingresources and one hardware set having hardware resources specified bythe composition request are identified. The at least one computeresource set and the at least one hardware set may be identified bymatching the computing resources specified by the composition request toat least one compute resource set having those resources using aresource map (316, FIG. 3).

For example, the resource map (316, FIG. 3) may specify a list ofcompute resource sets, identifiers of control resource sets that managethe listed compute resource sets, and the hardware devices of the listedcompute resource sets. By matching the computing resources specified bythe composition request to the hardware devices specified in the list,the compute resource set corresponding to the listed hardware devicesmay be identified as the at least one compute resource set.

In step 513, a determination is made about whether the informationhandling system is capable of servicing the composition request locally.In one or more embodiments of the invention, the determination is basedon whether all resources identified in step 512 (e.g., the hardwareresources and the computing resources) are available in the informationhandling system. In other words, the information handling system iscapable of servicing the composition request if all identified resourcesare available resources in the information handling system. In contrast,if any of the identified resources required to service the compositionrequest are not available locally (i.e., not available in theinformation handling system), then the information handling system isnot capable of servicing the composition request locally. If theinformation handling system is capable of servicing the compositionrequest locally, the method proceeds to step 517; otherwise, the methodproceeds to step 514.

In step 514, following the determination that the information handlingsystem is not capable of servicing the composition request locally, theavailable resources in the information handling system are allocated tothe composed information handling system. In one or more embodiments ofthe invention, the portion of the identified resources that areavailable locally are allocated by updating the resource map andtelemetry data map to specify the available resources as being utilizedfor the composed information handling system of the composition request.

In step 515, a resource allocation request is sent to the system controlprocessor manager for access to additional resources. In one or moreembodiments of the invention, the resource allocation request specifiesobtaining access to additional resources from at least a secondinformation handling system. The additional resources may be theremaining portion of the identified resources that are not available inthe first information handling system. The system control processormanager may process the resource allocation request in accordance withFIG. 5.4.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the resource allocationrequest further specifies a desired network bandwidth. In suchembodiments in which the desired network bandwidth is not specified, anoperational network bandwidth is predicted based on the resourcesspecified in the resource allocation request and the telemetry data map.For example, the telemetry data map may specify each resource type and acorresponding expected operational network bandwidth. The expectedoperational network bandwidths of the resources specified in theresource allocation request may be used to determine the desired networkbandwidth of the resource allocation request.

In step 516, a notification for access to at least the secondinformation handling system is obtained to complete the hardwareresource set. In one or more embodiments of the invention, thenotification specifies access to at least the second informationhandling system. The access may be direct communication or proxycommunication via the system control processor manager without departingfrom the invention.

In step 517, management services for the hardware resource set are setup using at least one control resource set to obtain logical hardwareresources. The management services may include, for example,virtualization, emulation, abstraction, indirection, and/or other typeof services to meet the requirements of data integrity, security, and/ormanagement models. The control resource set may provide managementservices to the at least one hardware resource set identified in step506.

The hardware resource set may include the available resources asprovided by the first information handling system and, if applicable,the additional resources provided via the communication with at leastthe second information handling system.

To setup the management services, the system control processor managermay cooperate with the at least one control resource set. For example,the system control processor manager may generate instructions forimplementing the management services, encapsulate the instructions in amessage, and send the message to one or more system control processorsof the at least one control resource set. In response to receiving themessage, the system control processors may implement the instructionsthereby implementing any number of management services such asvirtualization, emulation, etc.

The system control processor manager may also include identificationinformation for the system control processors that will cooperate inpresenting resources as part of instantiating the composed informationhandling system. Consequently, the system control processors of controlresource sets that will facilitate bare metal presentation of resourcesto processors of compute resource sets of the composed informationhandling system may be able to identify each other, communicate with oneanother, etc.

Setting up management services for the hardware resource set mayinclude, for example, preparing translation, indirection, or abstractiontables used to translate logical addresses provided by compute resourcesets to physical addresses utilized by hardware devices of the hardwareresource set.

In another example, setting up management services may include, if thetype of the resource allocation is a portion of a virtualized resource,making a call to a virtualization resources manager to allocate theportion of resources from an existing virtualized resource or byinstantiating a new virtualized resource and allocating the portion fromthe new virtualized resource.

In a still further example, if the type of the resource allocationrequires an emulated resource, providing management services may includeinstantiating a corresponding emulation layer between a hardware deviceof the hardware resource set and the compute resource set. Consequently,bare metal communications between the compute resource set and thehardware device used to present the bare metal resource to the computeresource set may be automatically translated by the system controlprocessor.

Setting up management services may further include modifying theoperation of one or more devices to provide, for example, data integrityfunctionality (e.g., RAID, ECC, etc.), security functionality (e.g.,encryption), and/or other functionalities that are transparent to thecomposed information handling system.

In step 518, the logical hardware resources are presented to the atleast one compute resource set as bare metal resources to instantiatethe composed information handling system.

To present the logical hardware resources, the system control processormanager may instruct the system control processors of the at leastcontrol resource set to make the bare metal resources discoverable. Forexample, the at least one control resource set may send a bare metalcommunication to one or more processors of the at least one computeresource set to cause the processors to discover the presence of thepresented bare metal resources. By doing so, the processors may thenbegin to utilize the logical hardware resources as bare metal resourcesresulting in a composed information handling system having all of theresources necessary to provide desired computer implemented services.

FIG. 5.3 shows a flowchart of a method in accordance with one or moreembodiments of the invention. The method depicted in FIG. 5.3 may beperformed to initiate access between SCPs via the SCP manager inaccordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. The methodshown in FIG. 5.3 may be performed by, for example, a system controlprocessor manager (e.g., 50, FIG. 1.1). Other components of the systemin FIGS. 1.1-4 may perform all, or a portion, of the method of FIG. 5.3without departing from the invention.

While FIG. 5.3 is illustrated as a series of steps, any of the steps maybe omitted, performed in a different order, additional steps may beincluded, and/or any or all of the steps may be performed in a paralleland/or partially overlapping manner without departing from theinvention.

In step 520, a resource allocation request is obtained from a systemcontrol processor for additional resources. In one or more embodimentsof the invention, the resource allocation request is the resourceallocation request specified in step 515 of FIG. 5.2.

In step 522, a network connectivity analysis is performed on the set ofinformation handling systems based on the network topology to identify asecond information handling system that may satisfy the resourceallocation request. In one or more embodiments of the invention, thenetwork connectivity analysis includes analyzing the networkconnectivity topology to identify a network availability of informationhandling systems, determining that the second information handlingsystem: (i) has the available resources to satisfy the resourceallocation request as specified in the resource availability responsesof FIG. 5.1, and (ii) has the network availability to communicate withthe first information handling system as specified in the networkconnectivity topology. In various embodiments of the invention, theallocation does not take into account network availability (i.e., (ii)).

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the network availability ofthe information handling systems is determined based on bandwidthspecifications (e.g., the network bandwidth usage is compared to amanufacturer-specified network bandwidth capabilities of the networkinterfaces in the information handling system). The information handlingsystem (e.g., the second information handling system) with the highestnetwork availability may be selected.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, multiple informationhandling systems may provide the desired network availability. In suchembodiments, the information handling system may be selected based onany factors such as, for example, at random, based on the highestnetwork bandwidth, or based on the number of composed informationhandling systems executing in the information handling systems. Otherfactors may be considered to select from the multiple informationhandling systems without departing from the invention.

In step 524, an access control management request is sent to a secondsystem control processor of the second information handling system. Theaccess control management request may specify allowing communicationbetween the resources in the second information handling system and thefirst information handling system via the SCP manager. The accesscontrol management request may specify programming the access controlmanager on the second information handling system to enable proxycommunication to the first information handling system via the systemcontrol processor manager. In this manner, all communication between thefirst and the second information handling system occurs through thesystem control processor manager.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the access controlmanagement request further specifies programming at least a portion ofthe network interfaces of the second system control processor to specifysegregating network traffic between the portion of the networkinterfaces to be limited to the composed information handling system. Inthis manner, the network availability of the second information handlingsystem is maintained throughout the operation of the composedinformation handling system.

In step 526, a response from the second system control processor istransmitted to the system control processor for enabled access to theresources. In one or more embodiments of the invention, the responseincludes the notification specified in step 516 of FIG. 5.2. Thenotification may specify the enabled communication with the secondinformation handling system via the system control processor manager.

FIG. 5.4 shows a flowchart of a method in accordance with one or moreembodiments of the invention. The method depicted in FIG. 5.4 may beperformed to initiate direct access between SCPs in accordance with oneor more embodiments of the invention. The method shown in FIG. 5.4 maybe performed by, for example, a system control processor manager (e.g.,50, FIG. 1.1). Other components of the system in FIGS. 1.1-4 may performall, or a portion, of the method of FIG. 5.4 without departing from theinvention.

While FIG. 5.4 is illustrated as a series of steps, any of the steps maybe omitted, performed in a different order, additional steps may beincluded, and/or any or all of the steps may be performed in a paralleland/or partially overlapping manner without departing from theinvention.

In step 540, a resource allocation request is obtained from a systemcontrol processor for additional resources. In one or more embodimentsof the invention, the resource allocation request is the resourceallocation request specified in step 515 of FIG. 5.2.

In step 542, a network connectivity analysis is performed on the set ofinformation handling systems based on the network topology to identify asecond information handling system that may satisfy the resourceallocation request. In one or more embodiments of the invention, thenetwork connectivity analysis of step 542 is similar to that of step 522of FIG. 5.3.

In step 544, an access control management request is sent to a secondsystem control processor of the second information handling system. Theaccess control management request may specify allowing directcommunication between the resources in the second information handlingsystem and the first information handling system. The access controlmanagement request may specify programming the access control manager onthe second information handling system to enable direct communication tothe first information handling system. In this manner, all communicationbetween the first and the second information handling system occurswithout the need of proxy communication via the system control processormanager.

In step 546, a response from the second system control processor istransmitted for enabled access to the resources. In one or moreembodiments of the invention, the response includes the notificationspecified in step 516 of FIG. 5.2. The notification may specify theenabled direct communication with the second information handlingsystem.

To further clarify embodiments of the invention, a non-limiting exampleis provided in FIGS. 6.1-6.3. FIGS. 6.1 and 6.3 show a system similar tothat illustrated in FIG. 1.1. Actions performed by components of theillustrated system are illustrated by numbered, circular boxesinterconnected, in part, using dashed lines. For the sake of brevity,only a limited number of components of the system of FIG. 1.1 isillustrated in FIGS. 6.1 and 6.3. FIG. 6.2 shows diagrams of examples ofdata structures utilized by the example system of FIGS. 6.1 and 6.3.

Example

Consider a scenario as illustrated in FIG. 6.1 in which a system controlmanager (600), at step 1, initiates communication with four informationhandling systems (IHSs) (610, 620, 630, and 640). The communicationincludes sending requests to access control managers (ACMs) (618, 628,638, 648). The communication further includes sending resourceavailability requests to the corresponding system control processors(e.g., 614, 624) of the IHSs (610, 620, 630, 640). For the sake ofbrevity, the system control processors of IHS C (630) and IHS D (640)are not illustrated in FIG. 6.1 or 6.3.

In response to the resource availability requests, each system controlprocessor (e.g., 614, 624), at step 2, send resource availabilityresponses that specify the available computing resources and hardwareresources to be used for composing composable information handlingsystems. The system control processors send network bandwidthinformation for each port in the respective IHSs (610, 620, 630, 640).The available resources and the network information may be stored in atelemetry data map illustrated in FIG. 6.2. Further, the ACMs (618, 628,638, 648) are programmed to enable access to the system controlprocessor manager (600).

As seen in FIG. 6.2, the telemetry data map (650) includes entries (652,654, 656, 658) that specify the resources corresponding network portconnection. For example, the telemetry data map (650) includes a firstentry (652) associated with information handling system A (610, FIG.6.1) which specifies that the information handling system A includes ahardware resource set (650) that includes a solid state disk having fourterabytes of storage space (652A), network port A having 60 Megabits persecond (Mbps) of available bandwidth (652B), and network port B having50 Mbps (652C). Similarly, the telemetry data map (650) includes asecond entry (654) associated with information handling system B (620,FIG. 6.1) which specifies that the information handling system Bincludes a hardware resource set (650) that includes a graphicsprocessing unit (654A), network port C having 40 Mbps of availablebandwidth (654B), and network port D having 60 Mbps (654C); further, athird entry (656) associated with information handling system C (630,FIG. 6.1) specifies that the information handling system C includes ahardware resource set that includes a solid state disk having eightterabytes of storage space (656A), network port E having 40 Mbps ofavailable bandwidth (656B), and network port F having 0 Mbps (656C); anda fourth entry (658) associated with information handling system D (640,FIG. 6.1) specifies that the information handling system D includes ahardware resource set that includes a second graphics processing unit(658A), network port G having 0 Mbps of available bandwidth (658B), andnetwork port H having five Mbps (658C).

Turning to FIG. 6.3, at step 3, a client sends a composition request tothe system control processor (614) of IHS A (610). The compositionrequest specifies composing a composed information handling system thatincludes a compute resource set, a solid state disk with at least threeTB of space, and a graphics processing unit. Based on the information inthe resource map of IHS A (610) (which is a subset of the informationshown in FIG. 6.2, the system control processor (614), at step 4,determines that a composed information handling system should beinstantiated utilizing compute resource set A (612), system controlprocessor (614), solid state disk (616) of information handling system A(610), and an additional graphics processing unit that is not associatedwith IHS A (610). Additionally, to meet the storage space required forthe virtual reality application, the system control processor (614)determines that resources from another information handling system arerequired.

Based on this determination, the system control processor (614), awareof its current lack of access to a graphics processing unit, at step 5,sends a resource allocation request to the system control processormanager (600) that specifies obtaining an additional graphics processingunit.

At step 6, the system control processor manager (600) analyzes thetelemetry data map (650, FIG. 6.2) to determine that IHS B (620) and IHSD (640) both include the graphics processing unit to satisfy theresource allocation request. However, due to the limited bandwidth ofIHS D (640) as specified in the telemetry data map (650, FIG. 6.2),enabling access to IHS D (640) would severely limit the accessibility ofthe network ports of IHS D (640) between other components. As such, thesystem control processor manager (600) selects the graphics processingunit of IHS B (620) to service the resource allocation request due tothe higher network availability of IHS B (620).

At step 7, the system control processor manager sends an access controlmanagement request to IHS B (620) that specifies programming ACM B (628)to enable access by IHS A (610). At step 8, ACM B (628) is programmedaccording to the access control management request. The system controlprocessor (614) of IHS A (610) is notified of the access. Further,network port C of IHS B (620) is allocated to the production of thecomposed system such that network port C is dedicated only to enablingcommunication between the system control processor (614) of IHS A (610)and the graphics processing unit of IHS B (620).

At step 9, the system control processor (614) determines that only threeterabytes of the solid state disk (616) are needed to be presented tothe compute resource set A (612). Consequently, at step 9, the systemcontrol processor (614) instantiates the solid state disk (616) as avirtualized disk so that, at step 10, only three terabyte of the fourterabytes of the solid state disk (616) can be presented to the computeresource set A (612).

Further, at step 11, the system control processor (614) sends a messageto the system control processor (624) of the information handling systemB (620) requesting that the graphics processing unit (626) be preparedfor presentation to the compute resource set A (612). In response to therequest, in step 12, the system control processor (624) of IHS B (620)sets the state of the graphics processing unit (626) consistent withdrivers employed by the system control processor (614) forcommunications purposes.

Finally, at step 13, the prepared resources are presented by the systemcontrol processor (614) as bare metal resources to the compute resourceset A (612). Consequently, at step 14, the compute resource set A (612)is able to utilize the prepared resources without being required to takeinto account the methods by which the underlying hardware resources arebeing managed.

End of Example

Thus, as illustrated in FIGS. 6.1-6.3, embodiments of the invention mayprovide a system that enables improved computer implemented services tobe provided using dynamically instantiated composed information handlingsystems via efficient computing resource allocation.

As discussed above, embodiments of the invention may be implementedusing computing devices. FIG. 7 shows a diagram of a computing device inaccordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. The computingdevice (700) may include one or more computer processors (702),non-persistent storage (704) (e.g., volatile memory, such as randomaccess memory (RAM), cache memory), persistent storage (706) (e.g., ahard disk, an optical drive such as a compact disk (CD) drive or digitalversatile disk (DVD) drive, a flash memory, etc.), a communicationinterface (712) (e.g., Bluetooth interface, infrared interface, networkinterface, optical interface, etc.), input devices (710), output devices(708), and numerous other elements (not shown) and functionalities. Eachof these components is described below.

In one embodiment of the invention, the computer processor(s) (702) maybe an integrated circuit for processing instructions. For example, thecomputer processor(s) may be one or more cores or micro-cores of aprocessor. The computing device (700) may also include one or more inputdevices (710), such as a touchscreen, keyboard, mouse, microphone,touchpad, electronic pen, or any other type of input device. Further,the communication interface (712) may include an integrated circuit forconnecting the computing device (700) to a network (not shown) (e.g., alocal area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN) such as theInternet, mobile network, or any other type of network) and/or toanother device, such as another computing device.

In one embodiment of the invention, the computing device (700) mayinclude one or more output devices (708), such as a screen (e.g., aliquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma display, touchscreen, cathode raytube (CRT) monitor, projector, or other display device), a printer,external storage, or any other output device. One or more of the outputdevices may be the same or different from the input device(s). The inputand output device(s) may be locally or remotely connected to thecomputer processor(s) (702), non-persistent storage (704), andpersistent storage (706). Many different types of computing devicesexist, and the aforementioned input and output device(s) may take otherforms.

Embodiments of the invention may provide a system and method fordynamically instantiated composed information handling systems.Specifically, embodiments of the invention may provide a system controlprocessor manager which instantiates composed information handlingsystems by managing the operation of system control processors andmonitoring network connectivity between information handling systems todetermine whether an information handling system has the networkavailability (e.g., network bandwidth) to communicate with theinformation handling system. Further, because information handlingsystems utilize access control managers to severely limit the access ofcomponents in an open network to the information handling systems, therisk of undesired components accessing and/or damaging composedinformation handling systems via the open network is greatly reduced.

Thus, embodiments of the invention may address the problem of resourceallocation for composed systems. For example, by utilizing a systemcontrol processor manager, the limited resources of multiple informationhandling systems may be efficiently allocated to provide desiredcomputer implemented services.

The problems discussed above should be understood as being examples ofproblems solved by embodiments of the invention and the invention shouldnot be limited to solving the same/similar problems. The disclosedinvention is broadly applicable to address a range of problems beyondthose discussed herein.

One or more embodiments of the invention may be implemented usinginstructions executed by one or more processors of a computing device.Further, such instructions may correspond to computer readableinstructions that are stored on one or more non-transitory computerreadable mediums.

While the invention has been described above with respect to a limitednumber of embodiments, those skilled in the art, having the benefit ofthis disclosure, will appreciate that other embodiments can be devisedwhich do not depart from the scope of the invention as of the invention.Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be limited only by theattached claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for providing computer implementedservices using information handling systems, comprising: a firstinformation handling system of the information handling systemscomprising a system control processor and at least one computingresource set, wherein the system control processor is programmed to:obtain a composition request for a composed information handling system;make a first determination that the first information handling system isnot capable of servicing the composition request locally; and based onthe first determination: allocate, an available resource on the firstinformation handling system to the composed information handling system;sending a resource allocation request to a system control processormanager for access to an additional resource; obtain, in response to theallocation request, a notification for access to a second informationhandling system of the information handling systems that provides theavailable resource; setup management services for available resource andthe additional resource to obtain logical hardware resources; andpresent the logical hardware resources to the at least one computeresource set as bare metal resources.
 2. The system of claim 1, whereinthe at least one control resource set comprises the system controlprocessor, wherein the system control processor is further programmed toprovide virtualization services for the at least one hardware resourceset when providing the management services.
 3. The system of claim 1,further comprising: the system control processor manager, wherein thesystem control processor manager is programmed to: initiatecommunication with the system control processor via a first accesscontrol manager; after initiating communication with the system controlprocessor: send a resource availability request to the first informationhandling system; obtain a resource availability response from the firstinformation handling system, wherein the resource availability responsespecifies at least a network availability of the first informationhandling system; obtain, using at least the resource availabilityresponse from the first information handling system, a networkconnectivity topology.
 4. The system of claim 3, wherein the networkavailability specifies a current bandwidth usage of the firstinformation handling system.
 5. The system of claim 3, wherein the firstaccess control manager is a firewall, wherein the firewall only permitsthe first information handling system to communicate with the systemcontrol processor manager until the available resource is allocated tothe composed information handling system.
 6. The system of claim 1,further comprising: the system control processor manager, wherein thesystem control processor manager is programmed to: obtain the resourceallocation request; identify, based on network connectivity analysis,the second information handling system as being able to satisfy theresource allocation request using the additional resource; and transmitthe notification, via the system control processor manager, to the firstinformation handling system.
 7. The system of claim 6, wherein thesystem control processor manager is further programmed to, aftertransmitting the notification to the system control processor, proxycommunication between the first information handling system and thesecond information handling system to enable the system controlprocessor to communicate with the additional resource.
 8. The system ofclaim 6, wherein the system control processor manager is furtherprogrammed to after transmitting the notification to the system controlprocessor, send an access control management request to a first accesscontrol manager and a second access control manager to enable directcommunication, via the first access control manager and the secondcontrol manager, between the first information handling system and thesecond information handling system.
 9. A method for providing computerimplemented services using information handling systems, comprising:obtaining, by a system control processor, a composition request for acomposed information handling system; making a first determination thata first information handling system is not capable of servicing thecomposition request locally; and based on the first determination:allocating, an available resource on the first information handlingsystem to the composed information handling system; sending a resourceallocation request to a system control processor manager for access toan additional resource; obtain, in response to the allocation request, anotification for access to a second information handling system of theinformation handling systems that provides the available resource;setting up management services for available resource and the additionalresource to obtain logical hardware resources; and presenting thelogical hardware resources to at least one compute resource set as baremetal resources, wherein the first information handling system comprisesthe system control processor and the at least one compute resource set.10. The method of claim 9, wherein the at least one control resource setcomprises the system control processor, wherein the system controlprocessor is further programmed to provide virtualization services forthe at least one hardware resource set when providing the managementservices.
 11. The method of claim 9, wherein the system controlprocessor manager is programmed to: initiate communication with thesystem control processor via a first access control manager; afterinitiating communication with the system control processor: send aresource availability request to the first information handling system;obtain a resource availability response from the first informationhandling system, wherein the resource availability response specifies atleast a network availability of the first information handling system;obtain, using at least the resource availability response from the firstinformation handling system, a network connectivity topology.
 12. Themethod of claim 11, wherein the network availability specifies a currentbandwidth usage of the first information handling system.
 13. The methodof claim 11, wherein the first access control manager is a firewall,wherein the firewall only permits the first information handling systemto communicate with the system control processor manager until theavailable resource is allocated to the composed information handlingsystem.
 14. The method of claim 9, wherein the system control processormanager is programmed to: obtain the resource allocation request;identify, based on network connectivity analysis, the second informationhandling system as being able to satisfy the resource allocation requestusing the additional resource; and transmit the notification, via thesystem control processor manager, to the first information handlingsystem.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein system control processormanager is further programmed to, after transmitting the notification tothe system control processor, proxy communication between the firstinformation handling system and the second information handling systemto enable the system control processor to communicate with theadditional resource.
 16. The method of claim 14, wherein the systemcontrol processor manager is further programmed to after transmittingthe notification to the system control processor, send an access controlmanagement request to a first access control manager and a second accesscontrol manager to enable direct communication, via the first accesscontrol manager and the second control manager, between the firstinformation handling system and the second information handling system.17. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computerreadable program code, which when executed by a computer processorenables the computer processor to perform a method for dynamicallyinstantiating composed information handling systems, the methodcomprising obtaining, by a system control processor, a compositionrequest for a composed information handling system; making a firstdetermination that a first information handling system is not capable ofservicing the composition request locally; and based on the firstdetermination: allocating, an available resource on the firstinformation handling system to the composed information handling system;sending a resource allocation request to a system control processormanager for access to an additional resource; obtain, in response to theallocation request, a notification for access to a second informationhandling system of the information handling systems that provides theavailable resource; setting up management services for availableresource and the additional resource to obtain logical hardwareresources; and presenting the logical hardware resources to at least onecompute resource set as bare metal resources, wherein the firstinformation handling system comprises the system control processor andthe at least one compute resource set.
 18. The non-transitory computerreadable medium of claim 17, wherein the at least one control resourceset comprises the system control processor, wherein the system controlprocessor is further programmed to provide virtualization services forthe at least one hardware resource set when providing the managementservices.
 19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17,wherein the system control processor manager is programmed to: initiatecommunication with the system control processor via a first accesscontrol manager; after initiating communication with the system controlprocessor: send a resource availability request to the first informationhandling system; obtain a resource availability response from the firstinformation handling system, wherein the resource availability responsespecifies at least a network availability of the first informationhandling system; obtain, using at least the resource availabilityresponse from the first information handling system, a networkconnectivity topology.
 20. The non-transitory computer readable mediumof claim 17, wherein the system control processor manager is programmedto: obtain the resource allocation request; identify, based on networkconnectivity analysis, the second information handling system as beingable to satisfy the resource allocation request using the additionalresource; and transmit the notification, via the system controlprocessor manager, to the first information handling system.